My Owen Place at 364 Erb St. W. was built through a public/private partnership between local developers Doug and Jim Owen and the federal, provincial and local municipal governments to provide affordable housing to local seniors.

Housing crunch

By James JacksonChronicle Staff

A group of researchers from the University of Waterloo have teamed up with the City of Waterloo to determine whether or not the city has enough affordable housing for seniors.

UW researcher John Lewis and two research students have created a survey with a range of questions related to affordable housing for seniors in the city, including: what factors might lead you to leave your current home? Approximately how much of your income is directed towards housing costs? Do you feel that there is enough affordable housing for seniors in the City of Waterloo?

The research is being done in conjunction with Lewis’ work as part of the age friendly city initiative, spearheaded by Mayor Brenda Halloran. In a report to council in June 2013, the age friendly advisory committee highlighted affordable housing as a long-term concern.

“One thing I’ve been told prior to that report is a number of residents expressed concern about affordable long-term care facilities in Waterloo,” said Lewis, an associate professor from the University of Waterloo’s school of planning.

As part of their research, the team — which includes undergraduate research students Rachel Martin and Lucas Oldfield — found monthly costs can reach as high as $3,000 or more to live in a long-term care facility in Waterloo, putting it out of reach for many seniors on a fixed income.

According to the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation, housing in Canada is considered affordable if shelter costs account for less than 30 per cent of before-tax household income.

“‘Affordable housing’ can refer to any part of the housing continuum from temporary emergency shelters through transition housing, supportive housing, subsidized housing, market rental housing or market homeownership,” the CMHC reports.

The survey is available online or in hard copy at a range of locations, including the Adult Recreation Centre (185 King St. S.), the Wing 404 Rotary Centre (510 Dutton Dr.), RIM Park, the Waterloo Public Library and several local churches.

While affordable housing is the mandate of regional government the results of the survey could be useful to help the city press for more affordable units.

“It’s to give the city the information they need to address the issue of affordability … and open a dialogue between the city and the region,” said Lewis.

The researchers have collected more than 30 surveys thus far and they hope to have about 500 by later this fall so they can prepare a report to city council detailing the results.

Affordable housing has become a topic of growing interest in Waterloo. Last month, councillors in Waterloo directed city staff to make affordable housing a component of an uptown community improvement plan after the region made it clear that the cities must be more responsible for affordable housing, especially along the proposed light rail transit route.

Local affordable housing advocates have also raised concerns about the insufficient supply of units and the lack of a robust incentive plan to encourage more.

The number of seniors in the region is expected to more than double by 2031, from 62,590 to 129,725. Waterloo’s 65 or older population grew from 10,875 in 2006 to 12,420 in 2011.

The survey is available online and takes about 15 minutes to complete, http://surveymonkey.com/s/waterlooseniorshousing.